SHENANDOAH, Texas  – For the third straight day at the 2013 NCAA Division III Championships, the Kenyon College men's swimming and diving team finished the evening's events in first place. The Lords completed three individual sprint events and one distance relay on Friday at the Conroe ISD Natatorium to hold on their lead. Kenyon possesses a 47.5 point lead over rival Denison University after the completion of day three.

The Lords saved their best for last with another strong performance out of their relay squad in the men's 800-yard freestyle. The tandem of Ian Stewart-Bates, Austin Caldwell, Curtis Ramsey, and Ian Richardson teamed up for a second-place finish behind a time of 6:32.58. The four-some held off two-time defending national champion Denison for second place only falling short of Johns Hopkins University, who reset the national mark in the event with a 6:29.27 time.

Kenyon placed Jimmy Chapman in the men's 100 backstroke championship final where the senior took eighth and accumulated 11 points. The Lords swam three in the event as senior Jon Rooker tied for 10th position and Kevin Magee placed 16th to add 7.5 points to their team score.

Nick Charriez advanced to the championship finals of the men's 200 butterfly where the senior placed seventh and took in another 12 points to further the Lords in the team standings.

Denison made up a bit of ground on the Lords with its fifth-place finish in the men's 100 backstroke to swing the score eight points in the Big Red's favor. Kenyon junior Alex Beckwith took 12th-place honors in the event.

After the third day of competition at the national championship, Kenyon still holds a 47.5 point lead over second place Denison. The Big Red chipped into the Lords' lead that was 58 points at the mid-way point of the four-day event. Massachusetts Institute of Technology is currently third overall with 225 points.

The fourth and final day of action will begin at 10 a.m. CDT with preliminaries for the men's 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay, 1,650 freestyle, and three-meter dive. Finals for all remaining events will commence at 6 p.m. CDT.

Kenyon looks to recapture the NCAA Division III title after a two-year hiatus. Should the Lords pull of the feat, it would be the 32nd overall national championship in the last 34 years after a mesmerizing run of 31 straight national titles that began in 1980. It would also be the first championship under Jess Book as head coach of the program.